An IDF soldier was dismissed on Monday from a company commanders’
course after he refused to participate in an ambush meant to catch
perpetrators of “price tag” incidents.

The soldier, who served in the Kfir fighter unit, was asked last week
along with his fellow soldiers to lie in ambush near a Jewish
neighborhood in Hevron, where military officials believed price tag
incidents were being planned. The ambush took place one day before
the eviction of families from the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El.

The soldier, a resident of the Binyamin community of Kochav Yaakov,
informed his superiors that he would rather not participate in this
activity because, as he put it, he was not recruited to the IDF to
arrest Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria but rather to help the
people of Israel and fight enemies. He was put on trial and it was
decided to dismiss him from the course, despite the fact that he was
considered an outstanding soldier.

MK Dr. Michael Ben Ari (National Union) condemned the decision,
saying, “It is unfortunate that [Central Command commander] Nitzan
Alon and the IDF commanders have not learned any lesson from previous
incidents of refusal by members of the Kfir unit. The soldiers must
not be made to confront their fellow settlers. Sending soldiers to
arrest settlers creates polarization and divisions between segments
of the population. That´s not why they were recruited to the IDF.”